In today’s digital era, warfare extends beyond missiles, jets, and drones. Nations must complement their military strength with sophisticated digital strategies and soft power. Iran is embracing this approach as the conflict in West Asia enters its sixth week, countering the US and Israel.
Tehran is effectively combining diplomacy with incisive digital messaging and online content to assert its position on the global stage. In addition to military actions, Iran employs humor, satire, and symbolism to engage with current events in a softer manner.
A recent incident involving the US military illustrates Iran’s engagement in this arena. Iran responded mockingly to the firing of US Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George.
Iran’s embassy in South Africa circulated altered images from a recent US military leadership meeting, showing certain figures crossed out. The accompanying caption stated, “The regime change happened successfully,” alluding to President Donald Trump’s “MAGA” slogan.
The regime change happened successfully.
According to the Washington Post (WaPo), alongside George, General David Hodne, head of the Army’s Transformation and Training Command, and Major General William Green, who led the Army’s Chaplain Corps, were also dismissed from their positions.
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The embassy also shared a clip of Trump addressing the nation, where he claimed the US had destroyed Iranian air defense systems. The post humorously captioned it with, “Eish. You were talking,” accompanied by a laughing emoji. This occurred after Iran successfully downed two US military aircraft in a single day.
Eish
You were talking???? pic.twitter.com/WblcT05pDB
This recent episode of mockery is part of a larger trend among Iranian state-linked accounts, which utilize memes, satire, and AI-generated content to influence narratives during the conflict.
Diplomatic channels have amplified this messaging worldwide. For instance, Iran’s Embassy in Thailand shared an AI-generated image that depicted a US pilot fleeing Iranian forces, with the caption “Currently in Iran,” referring to the search warrants issued for the US pilot who ejected from the aircraft hit by Iran.
ขณะนี้อยู่ในอิหร่าน pic.twitter.com/12c9nAVfxy
Similarly, Iran’s Embassy in Zimbabwe taunted Washington with a sarcastic “Trump, please talk. We are bored” post.
Trump, please talk. We are bored.
Subsequently, it shared an image depicting damaged US aircraft and captioned it “BLACK FRIDAY. Hit one F-15E, get 2 Black Hawk.”
BLACK FRIDAY
Iran’s Embassy in Tunisia ridiculed the US Air Force by posting an image showing pilots ejecting from damaged planes, captioned “???????? CHAIR Force ????”
Earlier, Iran had also released an AI-generated video portraying Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Lego-style figures.
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Some of Trump’s critics have accused him of “risking world war” as a distraction from the Epstein files scandal.
In the video shared by Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, Trump and Netanyahu were shown beside a Lego Satan, examining a folder labeled “Jeffrey Epstein File,” which included a Lego figure of Epstein in an orange jumpsuit alongside a grey-haired Lego character.
Meanwhile, Iran’s political leaders have intensified their rhetoric on digital platforms.
President Masoud Pezeshkian strongly condemned Trump’s comments about returning Iran “to the Stone Age,” asserting that such statements reflect an intention to commit a “massive war crime.” He cautioned that history harshly judges those who remain silent in the face of such threats.
“Does threatening to send an entire nation back to the Stone Age signify anything other than a massive war crime? This was the question I posed to my Finnish counterpart, a jurist. History is filled with those who suffered greatly for their silence against criminals,” Pezeshkian stated.
Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker MB Ghalibaf has also ramped up his rhetoric against the US, mocking Trump and questioning his “out of context” quotes while accusing him of market manipulation.
The ongoing US-Israel-Iran war, which commenced on February 28 with the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has so far resulted in over 2,000 deaths in Iran and displaced more than 3 million people.
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